Private Show
by Lord Puppetmon
Summary: Mummymon takes Arukenimon to a karaoke bar on their first date. Arukenimon is not happy. Warning: major fluff.


A/N: Okay, Digimon obviously doesn't belong to me, so you can forget about it. It belongs to Akiyoshi Hongo, Toei TV, Bandai, and whoever. None of the songs mentioned belong to me, either. Love Me Tender, in particular, belongs to Elvis Presley, Vera Matson, Ken Darby and George R. Poulton. Not mine. Not at all!

This fanfic's plotbunny sprung to my mind after I head Morikawa Toshiyuki, Mummymon's seiyuu, sing Love Me Tender for another character of his in Kyou Kara Maoh. And I thought this idea was just too good to pass up.

**Private Show**

_Why did I agree to this nonsense...?_

Arukenimon sank in her chair, looking miserable. This wasn't her idea of a first date. Of course, she didn't really think about it before, and she started accepting the fact that maybe, just maybe, love isn't such a bad thing after all a very short while ago. She was sure of one thing, though; Mummymon was truly an idiot if he thought a first date in a karaoke bar was a good idea.

To his credit, Mummymon picked a place that was more popular with young people, rather than aging businessmen, so it was slightly less embarrassing than it could have been. It was embarrassing enough, though, and the fact that Mummymon looked thrilled about the whole thing didn't help much.

"Oh, Arukenimon, isn't it wonderful?" he said, placing his hand on hers and grinning like an idiot. "You and I, here, together, on our first date..."

Arukenimon rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes, _delightful_," she replied dryly, pulling her hand away and reaching out for her glass of coke.

Mummymon was never very good at identifying sarcasm, so he didn't make a big deal out of her reply. Arukenimon was very thankful for that. The one-eyed half-Digimon glanced at the stage, where a young couple sang some inane J-pop song, hopelessly off-key. "They seem to be having a really good time up there."

"They suck," Arukenimon muttered wearily and sipped from her glass.

Mummymon smiled at her. "They're not professionals, you know."

"Then they shouldn't sing."

He looked dumbfounded. "But it's a karaoke bar."

"I know it is, you dolt," Arukenimon snapped. "That doesn't mean they should sing."

"But karaoke is about singing..."

"And what's the point of singing if you suck at it?"

Mummymon pouted a little. "You're missing the whole point."

Arukenimon pouted back. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Well... why does this karaoke bar exist?" Mummymon gestured at the stage.

"To torture me?"

Mummymon looked at her incredulously. "I doubt karaoke was invented just so it could torture you some day in the future."

Arukenimon sighed, exasperated. "Just get to the point."

"Well, what I'm trying to say is... music isn't just an art."

Arukenimon was annoyed, and slightly confused. "It isn't?"

Mummymon nodded. "Music is also a form of entertainment. People enjoy music because... well, it's really fun," he said, shrugging.

"Fun," she repeated.

Mummymon grinned "Yup! And karaoke is all about having fun. You don't have to be a professional singer to enjoy singing, you know."

Arukenimon scowled. She really didn't know. Wasn't music supposed to sound beautiful? Wasn't music supposed to be of high quality? It was an art, after all. Who's the stupid human that thought letting people sing horribly was a good idea? _Why_ did he think it was a good idea? She was never as interested in humans as Mummymon was, and even though she now knew that she was part human, she still found them entirely too confusing. _And **stupid**_, she thought, scowling harder. _If they were a little less **stupid**, they wouldn't have been so damn confusing_.

Mummymon finally noticed her sour expression. He placed his hand on top of Arukenimon's again, a look of concern on his face. "My sweet tea cookie, are you alright?" he asked.

Arukenimon wanted to smack him and tell him to cut it out with the stupid pet names and stop pretending that her foul mood wasn't his fault. A nagging voice of reason at the back of her brain insisted that he probably didn't mean to do any harm, oblivious dork that he is, but Arukenimon ignored it, as she figured hitting Mummymon and blaming him would make her feel much better than admitting that her foul mood came from herself.

She didn't get the chance to do this, however. As the two were talking, the song ended and the young couple stepped off the stage, and now the disc jockey grabbed the microphone near his stand to call the next singer on stage. "Alright, everyone, next up is a very special person who came to us all the way from the Digital World. Please clap your hands for Mummymon!"

It took a few seconds for realization to hit. Arukenimon's eyes widened in horror. _Oh, no_._ God no_._ Anything but THAT_. She looked around. Everyone was looking at them, some curious, some frightened. Digimon were still a rare sight in the Real World, and Mummymon's Digimon side was evident. For someone so used to slinking around and being unnoticed despite their odd looks, all this unwanted attention was hard for Arukenimon to get used to.

Mummymon, however, stood up and smiled at the staring crowd, failing to look uncomfortable or embarrassed. His slight blush really didn't count; that was more about him being very conscious about singing in front of a crowd rather than him feeling awkward due to being stared at by curious humans. She looked at him, making a face. He adapted to the Real World with such ease, the bastard. He was so comfortable with the humans, despite the fact that not all of them accepted him. _You and your stupid happy-go-lucky personality_, she grumbled to herself. She was never going to get used to this stupid place and these stupid people and _he_ treats it as if it was piece of cake. Jerk.

Lost in thought, she barely noticed as Mummymon leaned and whispered in her ear something about coming back in a few minutes. She did notice the kiss he planted on her cheek, though. She turned, opening her mouth to yell at him, but he was already on the way to the stage, waving at the disc jockey. Her shoulders slumped and she sank further in her chair. She growled as she felt her unexpectedly warm cheek. _Oh, terrific_.

Mummymon walked up the stage and leaned over the disc jockey's stand, whispering something to him. Arukenimon dully noted that the disc jockey seemed to be shorter than her, looking ridiculously tiny compared to Mummymon. The disc jockey's response to Mummymon's request was a surprised and slightly incredulous look. He asked Mummymon something, but Mummymon shook his head. What was going on there? Even with her heightened senses, Arukenimon couldn't quite figure out what the two were saying.

Finally, the disc jockey nodded, smiling. Mummymon grinned, stepping up to the microphone. The disc jockey grabbed his own microphone and spoke, sounding rather amused. "Right then, we have a classic this time. Mummymon will sing Love Me Tender for us!"

Arukenimon frowned. Where did she hear that song title before?

The music started. Her eyes widened and she gritted her teeth. _Oh shit_.

Mummymon had always been a big fan of classic love songs. He was a romantic fool, and he wasn't beyond loving ridiculously cheesy songs. He had listened to Love Is All You Need on repeat for a whole week, tried to play Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You on a guitar (after which Arukenimon smashed the guitar on his head. She _was_ an artist, after all), and hummed When A Man Loves A Woman while cleaning. He never actually sang anything, which she was thankful for. She wouldn't have been responsible for her actions if he were to sing one of those tacky songs. Of course, now he _was_ singing one of them. And not just any song, but Love Me Tender, his favorite. And he was going to do it in front of forty other people.

_The torture never ends._

Mummymon grabbed the microphone, looking a bit nervous and otherwise excited. Arukenimon braced herself. _This is going to be **terrible**_.

And he sang.

_"Love me tender,_

_Love me sweet,_

_Never let me go..."_

Arukenimon was shocked. He... wasn't half bad. The guy could carry a tune. He wasn't perfect or anything, but... she scowled. Deep inside, she hoped so badly he'll be terrible, that people will boo him off the stage, _something_. She wanted him to sing so bad she'd hate him for it. How dare he sing well? A quick scan of the room proved that she wasn't the only one that thought he was good. Most of the bar-goers stopped talking to listen to Mummymon, surprised that a guy with a monstrous appearance like him is a decent singer. She could hear a teenager in the nearby table asking his girlfriend what kind of a weird old-person song was that, only to be hushed by the girl, muttering that she wants to listen. Arukenimon pouted.

She looked back at Mummymon. Oh god. Now he was gesturing at her while singing. She grimaced. He was smiling, obviously enjoying himself and the attention the crowd was giving him.

She looked up to meet his eyes. She made a face at him, trying to express her distaste. Mummymon's smile widened, which just annoyed her more. As the instrumental bridge between the second verse and the third kicked in, he dismounted the microphone from its stand. All of a sudden, Arukenimon got this terrible sinking feeling. He was up to something.

And she was right. With the microphone in hand, he stepped off the stage and slowly walked up to their table. Everyone turned their heads to look. Arukenimon could swear the ground wasn't there anymore.

As he reached her, Mummymon placed his free hand on the table for support and leaned over. His face was terribly close to hers. The bridge was about to end and he beamed at her, bringing the microphone to his mouth.

Arukenimon really wanted to disappear now. With Mummymon so close, she couldn't do anything but look straight at him. She tried to stare at her feet, but her gaze was drawn to Mummymon's single golden eye. She was strangely captivated by his own gaze, tender and warm. She bit her lip. She wanted to hate him so much right now for being a complete fool in public and dragging her into this, but... the way he looked at her, and the way he was smiling, and the tone of his voice as he sang. It sent her into a storm of emotions and made her feel _weird_ in a good way, and she had no idea why.

_"Love me tender,_

_Love me true,_

_All my dreams fulfilled..."_

It hit her. The lyrics. His performance. It was so loving and so sincere... the moron really meant every single word.

_"For my darlin', I love you,_

_And I always will."_

Mummymon lowered the microphone, but didn't cease to look at her. He let out a soft chuckle and smiled sheepishly. His face has a reddish tint to it, and Arukenimon had no idea if it was because he was blushing or because of the energy he put into the performance. It was probably both, but she didn't really care at the moment. She was completely lost and had no idea if she'd rather punch the idiot in the face or kiss him, but she contemplated doing both.

The moment ended as the bar-goers started clapping. Startled, Arukenimon averted her eyes from Mummymon and lowered her head, looking at her glass of coke. She was very aware of her burning face now. Mummymon, meanwhile, stood straight, grinning at his crowd. He bowed, and then walked away, disappearing from Arukenimon's sight. She assumed he went to the stage to return the microphone.

Mummymon returned as the disc jockey called for the next singer. He sat in his chair and sighed happily. "Had fun?" Arukenimon asked him, trying to sound annoyed. It came out a lot shakier than she would have liked.

Mummymon chuckled. "Yeah, I did." She heard him dragging his chair closer to her. "It was great... I think everyone liked my performance."

"_I_ didn't." Still too shaky. She lowered her head and stared at her feet.

She could practically hear him smile. "You know, now that I think of it... music isn't only an art, and it isn't only about having fun."

"Oh?"

"It's a form of expression, too. A way to convey thoughts and feelings."

"_Really_. Never would've guessed." As if he wasn't obvious enough already.

She felt Mummymon's arm pulling her closer to him for a hug. Despite herself, she gave in, leaning onto him. She finally allowed herself to look up at her smiling partner.

"You're an idiot," Arukenimon said, trying to sound cold and uncaring and failing miserably.

Mummymon beamed. "And that's why you love me, my dearest." He gave her an affectionate squeeze.

Arukenimon sighed. "Is there a way I could make you shut up?"

"Only one way!" Mummymon looked chipper.

"...no."

He nodded, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"No."

"So I'll keep talking."

Arukenimon rolled her eyes. "Moron," she mumbled, stretching up and pulling Mummymon's head down for a kiss. He responded quickly, returning the kiss and wrapping both his arms around her body.

After a while, she pulled back and rested her head on Mummymon's shoulder, closing her eyes. "Moron..." she repeated, her voice a little softer and just a bit affectionate this time. Mummymon grinned and stroked her hair gently.

They sat like this for a few minutes, Arukenimon relaxing in Mummymon's warm embrace. Finally, Mummymon spoke.

"Arukenimon."

"Mmm?"

He grinned. "Want to go up there and sing too?"

Arukenimon looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Don't push it."


End file.
